Ukraine Coach Andriy Shevchenko wants to be “competitive” against Italy tomorrow and insists there is plenty of “potential” in the Azzurri.
It kicks off at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Genoa on Wednesday at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).
“I am very happy to be back in Italy, a country that has given me so much,” said former Milan striker ‘Sheva’ in his Press conference.
Ukraine Coach Andriy Shevchenko wants to be “competitive” against Italy tomorrow and insists there is plenty of “potential” in the Azzurri.
It kicks off at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Genoa on Wednesday at 19.45 UK time (18.45 GMT).
“I am very happy to be back in Italy, a country that has given me so much,” said former Milan striker ‘Sheva’ in his Press conference.
“It is also wonderful for me to bring my team here to play in this stadium against Italy. We’ll try to put out a competitive team, even though we have a few problems. It’s not easy right now to find the right balance of players.
“We don’t have Yarmolenko, as for the rest, we’ll see after today’s training session. Our league has a lot of issues right now and unfortunately many of our most talented players don’t start at club level.
“I am very proud to be the Coach of my national team. We have an important job to do. I arrived after Euro 2016 and the lads were really down, so we had to work hard, give them some confidence and change the tactical system. It all takes time.
“We lost to an excellent Croatia side, but still tried our best with some very strong World Cup qualifiers. We look to the future with optimism, our objective is to qualify for Euro 2020 and be competitive.”
Italy also missed out on the 2018 World Cup, the first time they’ll missed the tournament since 1956, so does Shevchenko see a lack of talent in the Nazionale?
“It’s difficult to explain what’s gone wrong. I see players with potential, they just need a little time. I think Italy is full of talents. Perhaps they haven’t yet found a centre-forward who can be relied upon, but there are always talents coming through, for example Patrick Cutrone at Milan.”
Cutrone had been called up, but is injured along with Simone Zaza, Danilo D’Ambrosio and Alessio Romagnoli.
Shevchenko was asked about rumours he could become the Coach of Serie C side Monza after former Milan President Silvio Berlusconi bought the club.
“I complimented him for this courageous adventure. It’s wonderful that he has returned to football along with Adriano Galliani. We joked around about this, but I have a commitment to Ukraine and want to take my country to the Euros.”
This friendly with Italy is hosted by the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Genoa so it can raise funds for the victims of the Ponte Morandi tragedy.
The iconic bridge collapsed on August 14, so at the 43rd minute, there will be a pause in play to remember the 43 people who died that day.
Today both the Italy and Ukraine squads visited the site of the bridge.
“We tried to be close to the people of Italy and of Genoa around this terrible tragedy. It’s not just those who died, but also the many left homeless.
“It’s difficult to find the words, as Italy has always been a second home for me.”